Meeting with prisoner helps woman overcome burglary trauma

A VICTIM of home burglary has put the ‘horrible’ events behind her after coming face to face with the man who stole from her.

The Worthing woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was apprehensive about meeting the man who burgled her home, but agreed afterwards that it was a positive experience.

She said: “I felt better in myself afterwards, because I had the chance to tell the offender how the burglary had made me feel. This will help me to finally put the horrible events behind me.

“I feel that the offender is remorseful for his actions. I hope that he thinks twice before burgling another innocent person’s home.”

The restorative justice conference – where an offender faces their victim – was set up by two trained restorative justice facilitators, a victim support volunteer and a probation officer, as part of the Sussex Restorative Justice Partnership.

The burglar broke into the victim’s family home four years ago and is currently serving a four year sentence.

The offender, said: “I felt anxious about meeting someone whose home I’d broken into. But I wanted to go through with it in order to start making changes to my life.

“I felt tearful during the conference as I heard for the first time how upset she’d been. I hope she has accepted my apology. I feel like I can be proud for doing something right.”